| Top 15 Major Causes of Death, 2015 |
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Age-adjusted death rate (1) |
| Rank |
Cause of death |
Number of deaths |
Rate |
Percent change from 2014 |
| 1 |
Heart disease |
633,842 |
168.5 |
0.9% |
| 2 |
Malignant neoplasms (tumors) |
595,930 |
158.5 |
-1.7 |
| 3 |
Chronic lower respiratory diseases |
155,041 |
41.6 |
2.7 |
| 4 |
Accidents (unintentional injuries) |
146,571 |
43.2 |
6.7 |
| 5 |
Cerebrovascular diseases (stroke) |
140,323 |
37.6 |
3.0 |
| 6 |
Alzheimer's disease |
110,561 |
29.4 |
15.7 |
| 7 |
Diabetes |
79,535 |
21.3 |
1.9 |
| 8 |
Influenza and pneumonia |
57,062 |
15.2 |
0.7 |
| 9 |
Kidney disease |
49,959 |
13.4 |
1.5 |
| 10 |
Intentional self-harm (suicide) |
44,193 |
13.3 |
2.3 |
| 11 |
Septicemia |
40,773 |
11.0 |
2.8 |
| 12 |
Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis |
40,326 |
10.8 |
3.8 |
| 13 |
Hypertension (3) |
32,200 |
8.5 |
3.7 |
| 14 |
Parkinson's disease |
27,972 |
7.7 |
4.1 |
| 15 |
Pneumonitis due to solids and liquids |
19,803 |
5.3 |
3.9 |
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All other causes |
538,539 |
NA |
NA |
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All deaths |
2,712,630 |
733.1 |
1.2% |
(1) Per 100,000 population; factors out differences based on age.
(2) Less than 0.1 percent.
(3) Essential (primary) hypertension and hypertensive renal disease.
NA=Not applicable.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics. |
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